The car rolled to a stop beside a quiet clearing.
Aiden killed the engine, and for a long moment, neither of us spoke. The forest around us was dead still, save for the soft rustle of leaves and the distant, lonely song of a bird.
He turned toward me, his brow furrowed in quiet concern. "So..." he asked carefully. "What happened?"
I looked out through the windscreen, watching the trees without really seeing them. I had promised myself I would tell him everything, but now that the moment was here, the truth felt heavier than it ever had before.
I let out a slow, shuddering breath.
"After I brought Eryn home..." My voice came out lower, rougher than I expected. "...everything changed."
"I told myself my family simply needed time," I said, a bitter, self-deprecating smile touching my lips at the memory. "It was easier than admitting they might be right."
Every disagreement back then ended the same way.
My father warned me to be patient. My mother asked me to be carefulandnot rush into things. My siblings told me I was moving too quickly.
Even my cousins—Rowan and Adrian, who had always cheered on my recklessness—began choosing their words with extreme caution whenever Eryn's name came up.
I heard them. I simply refused to listen.
The more they questioned my decisions, the more fiercely I defended him. I mistook their genuine worry for prejudice, convincing myself they were just closed-minded about a human joining our royal bloodline.
Soon, I was spending more nights at the human temple than I did in the white jade halls of the palace.
Eryn always insisted I was welcome. His room was modest compared to my royal chambers—a narrow bed, a small wooden desk littered with ancient scrolls, and fresh flowers placed beside the window every morning. It was simple. Peaceful. I convinced myself I preferred it to the weight of my crown.
Days would pass before I even remembered to return home. When I finally did, another argument was always waiting for me.
"You're avoiding us, Kael," Adrian told me one evening, his pale gray eyes stern, the bronze-splattered scales on his jaw tight with frustration.
"I am busy," I retorted.
"You are hiding."
"And whose fault is that?" I snapped back.
"And that is precisely why we're worried!"
I walked away before he could say another word. I no longer wanted their advice. I only wanted Eryn.
Looking back now... that should have terrified me. Love should never make the rest of the world disappear. Mine did. I simply mistook an unnatural obsession for devotion. I see it now. I did not then.
The weeks passed in a blur, and soon, the day arrived that every heir to the throne prepares for from the moment they are born: my coronation.
I remember standing on the high palace balcony , Eryn beside me, watching the kingdom below buzz with celebration. Down in the courtyard, my younger cousins and little Cassian—in their true serpent forms—slithered excitedly among the servants, their scales catching the bright sunlight.
Eryn looked up at me with a soft smile. "You seem nervous."
"I am," I admitted.
"You?" He laughed quietly. "I never imagined the great Prince Kael capable of nervousness."
"There is much at stake." I turned to him, taking his hands into mine. "For seven days, I must remain isolated inside the Inner Chamber."
"The meditation?"
I nodded. "Our people believe a ruler should step onto the throne with a perfectly balanced spirit. But I do far more than just meditate." I offered a faint smile. "I must cultivate every fragment of mana within my body until my core reaches absolute harmony."
Eryn listened intently, his dark eyes never leaving mine.
"When those seven days are complete..." I paused, the weight of the ancient ritual washing over me. "...my father will perform the Rite of Succession."
"The Great Mana," Eryn whispered, his eyes brightening with sudden recognition.
"You know of it?"
"I've studied naga history," he replied proudly. "Not in great detail, but enough."
I couldn't help but smile back, charmed by his curiosity. "Each king leaves behind a portion of his mana before he passes. Generation after generation, it is preserved within the royal bloodline and passed down to the new sovereign."
"And when the rite is complete..." Eryn murmured.
"The accumulated mana of every king before me will become mine." I pulled him gently to my chest, wrapping my arms around him tightly. "It sounds rather dramatic when spoken aloud." I gave an unamused laugh
"It sounds... incredible."
"It is also dangerous," I added softly.
"Why?"
"Because all that power settles in one place. My core." I tapped my chest right over my heart. "It becomes both my greatest strength... and my greatest vulnerability."
Eryn's gaze followed my hand. His dark eyes lingered on my chest for only a heartbeat before he looked back up and smiled. "I suppose that means no one must ever lay a hand on it."
I chuckled, resting my chin on his head. "No. But what I am trying to say is... once I am king, no one can stand between us. Not my father, not the council, no one."
"Then we can finally be together," Eryn whispered into my chest, hugging me tighter.
I remember thinking how fortunate I was.
How lucky I had been to find a human who accepted every part of my wild, secret world without fear. I thought he simply loved me. I thought he was proud of me and wanted to support me.
I never questioned why he asked so many detailed questions about the coronation.
About the rite.
About my core.
I answered every single one of them. Freely. Without a shred of hesitation.
I trusted him with my life.
I paused, stepping out of the car. Aiden followed me silently as we walked over to the edge of a small, shimmering lake in the clearing. The breeze carried the scent of pine, and the soft rustle of water licked against the bank.
I stared down at my hands for a long moment, watching the faint, lingering traces of gold beneath my skin. Then I looked Aiden straight in the eyes.
"There is something you need to understand, Aiden." My voice was steady now, heavy with the weight of centuries-old guilt. "My family never hated Eryn." I swallowed hard.
"They feared him. There was something wrong about him—something that didn't add up. Everyone in the palace saw it. They saw the dark trance he had over me. And I was too blinded by what I thought was love to listen to them. I didn't even try."
Aiden said nothing. He simply stood there, listening with a patient, grounded quietness that made it easier to go on.
I managed a tired, broken smile and lowered my eyes.
"The core he wanted..." My fingers curled unconsciously into a fist over my chest, right where the dark veins had pulsed earlier.
"...was never just a source of power. It was the ancestral heart of my people. It carried the spirit and strength of every king who came before me."
I closed my eyes, the memory cutting deeper than any blade.
"And I told him exactly how to tear it out."